The Kellog-Briand Treaty of 1928, the Treaty to Outlaw War worked really well, as we all know. Within four years, World War II broke out in China as the starting point for a worldwide conflagration, which made the “Great War’ look tame and mostly peaceful. Previously, the Washington Naval Treaty savaged the Allied Navies before World War II while the two major Axis powers cheated and put their finger underneath the scale to make sure their capital ships were much lighter than they appeared so as not to violate tonnage limitations.
Representative Mike Turner’s recent freak-out over something in space was unprecedented. Was it a stunt to push Ukraine Aid? Likely. Was something happening in space? Likely. This media drama flare-up created many branches and sequels of national security thought. First important take away – one of the remaining treaties from the Cold War era, the Space Treaty, is being roundly being ignored. In the 1960s, the US created the amazing X-20 Dyna-Soar which spooked the Soviets into thinking America had a Fractional Orbital Bombardment capability, which made them sign the treaty. We didn’t really have it, but we were on a pathway to developing it, we cancelled it and walked away after the Soviets signed the treaty.
Now, if the Russians have a nuke in space, the Chinese likely have 10, plus an X-20 like vehicle. Representative Turner’s theatrics also showed clearly the hyper-over-focus of the Intelligence Community on Russia, while ignoring the Chinese nuclear build up frenzy. The IC perhaps is still being influenced by the fraud of the 51 Intelligence Officer Letter of 2020 and chooses to ignore the much larger Chinese threat.
Biden Team Obsessed with Treaties
The Blue Team loves treaties, which has created a cult for treaties in the American National Security apparatus. Working on a treaty team is the premier creme de la creme as far as gigs for the national security bureaucrat. You get to talk in abstract, sophisticated terms, using a fake British accent while living the high life in Vienna, Austria at the U.S. Government Office complex (same place the corrupt and penetrated Biden Iran Team of Rob Malley works). Curiously, Huawei appears to have a large footprint in the same building. Must be a total coincidence.
Vienna is not the only place treaty teams work. They get to go to all these beautiful places, eating smoked salmon, living a life detached from reality and actually having to accomplish something. Occasionally, they also get to go on TDY (Temporary Duty) trips for treaty verification, but only after many months of pre-coordination to ensure the inspectee hides everything. This is the Pakistan model of looking for Bin Laden. Looking for Bin Laden and finding Bin Laden are two totally different things. Pakistan and the National Security Bureaucrat know that the nano-second Bin Laden or a nuclear violation is found, the largesse, cushy trips, and smoked salmon will cease.
China signed the Bio Warfare Treaty, yet we still have Wuhan
Treaties work when they are enforced and there is a credible deterrence. China signed the Biological Warfare Treaty and yet we had and have the Wuhan Laboratory. Even worse, there’s now the evidence that Dr. Anthony Fauci and the National Institute for Health helped fund this rogue lab that was operating in violation of the treaty. What should have happened with Wuhan? Credible deterrence would have been a robust American defensive capability against Bio-Weapons which was allowed under the Treaty – but American Bio Defense capabilities have evaporated. The 1992 Nunn-Lugar legislation created the “Cooperative Threat Reduction Treaty” (CTRT) with the Soviets – but also was updated and evolved in 2003 and beyond to create the mysterious “Bio-Lab” program – for which the American public still does not have answers. Bottom line – there was no deterrence, only assistance for the Chinese to create their offensive bio-lab in Wuhan while America created “bio-labs” using the the morphed CTRT.
Did the Russians violate treaties in the past? Absolutely. The blatant disregard by Russia for the Intermediate Nuclear Force Treaty was a well-known secret for years. The Obama-Biden Team, though, did nothing but clutch pearls and seek to grovel to the Russians for more treaties. President Trump saw the utter foolishness of this and came to the obvious conclusion of why waste time and resources on a treaty that was patently absurd. This led to the move to re-introduce Tomahawk with Nuclear Warhead for regional deterrence which is now law in Section 1618 of the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act which overrides the Biden Team’s opposition to nuclear Tomahawks to defend America and American Strategic Partners.
Treaties can play a role when they are enforced and deterrence is credible
Treaties only work if there is a credible deterrence in effect that malign nations like China or Russia respect and there is clarity and resolve to inflict cost for non-conformance. China and Russia knew President Trump would inflict cost and they responded accordingly. They also know they can play the Blue Team indefinitely.
The original Cold War Treaties worked because there was a credible American nuclear, defensive biological, and chemical capability that was being maintained and improved. When we didn’t think the Soviets and Chinese Communists were getting the message, we introduced new capabilities like the X-20, MX Missile, Pershing II, Ground Launched Tomahawk, and many other moves that deterred Chinese and Soviet gamesmanship. With the Biden Team, there is no credible deterrence or enforcement. This creates a highly flammable world that is far more dangerous than ever before.
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